Wednesday, January 27, 2010

"Making History", Starring the Washington Capitals

I sure as hell hope I don't jinx the Caps with this post...

That being said, at a 3.81 goals per game rate through 52 games, this Caps offense is the best to grace the NHL in 14 years (and 13 seasons). The last team to light the lamp that often was the 1995-1996 version of the Pittsburgh Penguins at 4.4 goals per game.*

Anyway, aside from the '05-'06 Senators squad (3.80), no team since '95-96 has even come close to the Caps' offensive potency this season. Take a look:





The two mains things I take from this data tear me apart. Our Caps team is making history, but is that really a good thing? The last team to lead the league in goals during the regular season and win the Stanley Cup was the 1991-1992 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Yes, the above data ignores all things Defense/Goaltending/Ovechkin. But what it blatantly points out is that this year's Capitals are making (at least recent) history. While it's important to put regular season ouput in perspective of the larger goal, I also don't like to take great things for granted. We are truly watching something special.

And by the way, 7-0-0 since the Ovechkin-Downie turning point.

*Interestingly enough, both Colorado (3.98) and Detroit (3.96) averaged more goals per game in '95-'96 than this version of the Caps. Down year for goalies, huh?

7 comments:

  1. Poll results are showing that this blog is nothing more than a pinko commie rag..USA USA

    ReplyDelete
  2. time for the Caps to get a Cup this year

    8 in a row and counting ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. let me summarize stuff posted of japers' rink, make an awesome chart, and call it a blog post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What was summarized from Japers' Rink? Granted, they cover just about everything over there (it's the best hockey blog in the land for a reason), but I'm pretty sure they haven't gone in depth like this on the historic implications of the Caps' offense.

    Based on the fact that I posted this immediately following the Caps-Isles game, when we finally eclipsed the '05-'06 Sens (3.8 g/g), your claim lacks any sort of evidence.

    I'm sorry I ruined your life.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Let's stumble on a blog post, make a baseless assertion behind a veil of anonymity, and call it a useful comment!

    ReplyDelete
  6. go knuble, and well put.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.